Undergraduate Research

The Plant and Soil Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholars Program is designed to involve undergraduate students in research.

The Plant and Soil Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholars Program is designed to involve undergraduate students in research. Knowledgeable faculty members serve as mentors for undergraduate students while they gain valuable hands-on experience working on cutting-edge research projects side-by-side with faculty, graduate students, and research technicians.

The program helps promising undergraduates build a solid foundation in research methods to better prepare them for industry and academic careers in the fields of Plant or Soil Sciences

Once in the program, research scholars are mentored and helped to apply for undergraduate research grants, such as Niblack or Wentz Research Scholarships. Research Scholars are required to submit a research proposal to an on-campus agency by their second year in the program. Whether or not the student is successful with the proposal, the student may remain a PASS Research Scholar and continue working with his/her mentor.

Getting hands-on research experience as an undergraduate can help students refine their educational and career goals, as well as build key lab techniques and skills. This will better prepare them for future research opportunities in graduate school and industry.

Freshman Research Scholars

The Freshman Research Scholars program provides an opportunity for approximately sixty bright, ambitious students to extend their education beyond the classroom by engaging in cutting-edge research under the guidance of innovative faculty researchers.

OSU understands that students who graduate without research experience have not taken full advantage of all that a comprehensive research university has to offer, so OSU leads the way in supporting undergraduate research in all fields of study.

By elevating their education with real hands-on research experience students in FRS can distinguish themselves as leaders capable of contributing to the scholarly community in ways that coursework alone cannot.

Such discovery learning complements a well-rounded course load by providing the critical opportunity to apply fundamental skills. Connections made through the Freshman Research Scholars program often lead to rewarding long-term relationships with like-minded students and faculty.

Wentz Research Scholarship

The Lew Wentz Foundation and OSU provide support for the nationally recognized Wentz Research Project awards. Each year, one-year research projects awards are given to approximately 40 undergraduate student scholars to conduct independent research with the guidance of a faculty mentor. The Wentz Research projects are conducted during the fall and spring semesters of an academic year and are an opportunity for undergraduates to design and conduct research under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Students must arrange with their professors to receive two hours.

The research project description is conceived and written by the student and must:

Include a concise statement of the purpose using vocabulary and style readliy understandable to a wide range of scholars and disciplines.

Develop the reasonable objective on one page.

Convince the award committee that this is student research rather than a task assigned by a faculty mentor.

Niblack Research Scholars Program

Primary Objective: to develop and foster undergraduate student interest in scholarly research within the various disciplines at Oklahoma State University.

The Niblack Research Scholars is an undergraduate research program funded by a gift from OSU alumnus and former Pfizer Vice Chairman Dr. John Niblack. Each year, the program awards a scholarship to 12 OSU undergraduate students who have the unique opportunity to conduct research in a university lab. The students are assisted by a faculty sponsor and graduate student mentor.